Hell Hath No Fury
by Skyblaze
Summary: The Shadows team face a new threat when Fury is infected with a virus. Michael must face an unexpected revelation and Kyle and Kitt must both confront their past. Part of the 'Knight Rider: Shadows' series.
1. Part One

Hell Hath No Fury  
Part One  
  
I caught you in the act, can't put up with that  
Messing where you shouldn't be  
I wanna hear you say you're sorry  
'Cause nobody takes advantage of me  
If Looks Could Kill - Heart  
  
//I can still feel her hand touching me, covered in blood. Warm and dark and sticky. Her life flowing out of her. I'm loosing her...I'm loosing her. Dannie...Dannie...don't leave me. I don't want to be alone in the dark again...But the memories won't go away. I can still feel her...//  
  
Fury pulled herself out of recharge quite suddenly when her scanners picked up someone in the vicinity approaching. Her defensive systems powered up to full strength before she realised that it was just her driver being insomniac again.   
"Still can't sleep huh Jade?" Fury called. The words had a joking tone, but with a serious edge to them. Fury wasn't the most demonstrative of the Shadow AI's, but that didn't mean she did not care about her chosen partner.  
Jade just shrugged and sat down at her PC workstation, waiting for it to boot up. The young hacker looked dreadful. Her green eyes had dark circles under them, mute evidence of how little she had been sleeping lately, and Fury could swear that Jade had lost weight - which wasn't good when she was already so slender. Even so, Fury knew that she could do very little about it - Jade had never listened to her partner's advice before, so why would she start now?  
Then again, Fury's own recharge state had been somewhat less than peaceful lately. Just now, Fury could have sworn she heard Echo's voice, chanting on about blood, and about Dannie, but when Fury checked her aural sensors, she had found nothing. Echo hadn't made a peep, and Fury knew it couldn't be the resonance link - it simply wasn't strong enough or stable enough to transmit words - right?  
The orange scanner on the Ferrari's nose swished back and forth briefly as Fury considered asking Jade to check it out, but as she watched the human working, her fingers going up and down on the keys as though she had to force every movement, Fury decided against it - Jade had enough problems right now.   
As if aware of Fury's scrutiny, Jade turned to fix her eyes on the scrolling amber lights.  
"Michael gave us a mission set for tomorrow - you better get all the rest you can now." Jade said and Fury winced internally at how exhausted and hurt her partner sounded. It could be argued that Jade needed the rest more than Fury did, but the red F40 did not argue - Jade just didn't have the strength to retort.  
As Fury powered down, she never felt something move into her systems and settle there. A powerful computer program moved itself into the background of the AI's normal functions and waited for its instructions.  
  
Dawn arrived in the usual course of time, and it was shortly after the sun peeped over the horizon that a red Ferrari F40 left the grounds of Shadow Base.   
Kyle busied himself with his emails, and Michael decided that it might be a good idea to give Kitt a proper wash and wax. Meanwhile, Bonnie attempted to get some work done in her lab. Echo simply sat in her garage space, alone.  
  
The pen bounced at it was slammed down against the desk. Bonnie glared at it sullenly. She couldn't seem to concentrate. She sighed and gazed around her lab. It was spotless, and filled to the brim with the best and most high-tech equipment, only the best for the Knight Shadows. There were several plasma-screen monitors hooked up to sophisticated diagnostic computers, displaying data on all five of the Shadows vehicles. They were also able to call up information from Intelligence and police databases from around the world, enabling near-instant access to information.   
None of that interested her right now. She glanced briefly at the few personal effects she kept in the room. There were several framed photos, many of herself, Michael and Kitt had been taken many years ago. Her gaze lingered on a stunning shot of Michael lounging on Kitt's hood, sunbathing without his shirt. A smile pulled at her lips. She had taken that shot herself, hiding behind the bush candid-camera style. Michael looked utterly at peace in the picture, but Bonnie remembered quite clearly his reaction after he realized he had been snapped - he had chased her with a bucket of ice water for ten minutes, before finally pouring it all down her. To this day she still shivered when she thought of it.  
Despite everything she had experienced before she had left the Foundation fifteen year ago, she was genuinely pleased to be here. Her work was fulfilling, she had people here she really cared about, and she had access to the most up-to-date technological equipment in the world. But most of all, she was back with Kitt, and with Michael. For some reason, she couldn't get the day she arrived out her head. It kept playing around in her head over and over. Michael had greeted her exuberantly, saying he was glad she had come, she had smiled, replying that wild horses couldn't keep her away. He had enfolded her in an embrace, and planted a kiss on her cheek. At the time the kiss had seemed like just a simple demonstration of friendly affection, nothing more. But now, looking back, she began wondering if it had been more. The kiss still seemed to burn on her cheek. Bonnie closed her eyes, recalling the warmth of his body, the strength of his arms, his fresh, masculine scent...  
She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, realizing belatedly that she was walking dangerously close to a line she had vowed never to cross.  
Bonnie glanced one again at the picture of sunbathing Michael and found herself entertaining thoughts that left her blushing to the roots of her hair, she felt giddy, like a schoolgirl in the throws of an adolescent crush. Bonnie sighed deeply and buried her face in her hands. She breathed deeply for several seconds, before standing up and heading out the door. She needed to tell him, she needed to say something, before she went out of her mind  
  
Black ominous clouds had gathered overhead, threatening a downpour. Michael looked up at them briefly and absently swirled the last dregs of coffee in his cup before downing it, wincing briefly at the bitter taste. Kitt was parked not far away, his scanner swished from side to side, keeping tabs on his human friend and partner. Michael turned back to the man sat beside him on the bench, noting the expectant look in the younger man's eyes, despite the emotionless expression on the pale face. Michael was beginning to understand where Dante got his cold attitude from - at times his human partner could be just as machine like.   
"What was it you wanted to ask me?" Michael said finally, breaking the silence. Kyle flinched slightly, fidgeting in his chair and briefly touching the burn scar that ran across his arm, a reminder of the violence that had destroyed TKR.   
"Before that last...mission, Jenny had Trek do some research into her past. She was looking for the names of her real parents. Trek managed to dig up one name...yours."  
Michael took a deep breath and tried to find a way to phrase this explanation so it would actually make sense. It was a long, convoluted story, but Michael knew Kyle wouldn't be patient enough to listen to it all, so he decided on the abbreviated version.  
"Okay...begin at the beginning. Jenny's real Dad was a respected scientist called Professor Charles Landon. He was working on a weapons project for the government during the 80's, but a terrorist organization called 'Spiral' wanted those weapons and was willing to kill to get them. Landon went into hiding but the Spiral didn't bother to go after Landon - they tracked down his family. Then the Foundation got called in. We took down most of the Spiral, but Jenny's mom was killed. We put Landon's kids up for adoption at his request, but to protect Jenny from being used against Landon again, Kitt accessed her birth records and changed to name. Changed it to Michael Knight - a man who doesn't exist except as a shadow in the system."  
"The perfect protection." Kyle murmured.   
Michael's lips curled up in a faint smile.  
"We never expected her to join the Foundation."  
Kyle chuckled, then frowned as a new though occurred to him.  
"Wait...you said Landon's 'kids'."  
"Right. Jenny had a brother called Marcus."  
Kyle's eyes widened.  
"A brother?" He gasped.  
"Yeah, but I don't know what happened to him. I kept track of Jenny though - even looked in on her a few times while she was growing up."  
Kyle stared at the clouds for a moment, a reflective sort of look on his face.  
"One more mystery cleared up." Kyle said quietly.  
Michael looked at him sympathetically.   
"Trying to tie up all the loose ends huh?"  
"I guess you could put it that way. I'm just trying to sort everything out in my head." Kyle replied.  
"It's hard to start a new life when bits and pieces of your old one are still hanging around." Michael smiled. Kyle gave him a dour look.  
"Thanks, but I don't feel like changing my name to 'Kyle Knight' just yet."  
Michael chuckled wryly.  
"Not easy being a man who doesn't exist, but it pays well, and there are all sorts of perks." He grinned, glancing at the sleek black sports car parked on the driveway. Kyle shook his head and stood up.  
"Thanks for the information, Michael. I gotta go, Bonnie wants to try some new modifications for Dante."  
"No problem Kyle. Anytime."  
Michael watched him go then slumped down in his chair, allowing his mood to show itself in his posture for the first time. He felt mentally exhausted, worn out. Things had just gotten a whole lot more complex, and he wasn't sure where to go from here. He had never thought of himself as a leader, but now he found himself entrusted with the lives of four humans and five AI's. It wasn't an easy job.  
Michael Knight had changed over the years, accommodating changing fashion as well as his own, more personal alterations. The buttons of his shirts were now fastened to the neck; a heavy leather duster that he wore in all but the hottest of weather had replaced his leather jacket. He no longer flirted with every woman he came across, but sometimes wondered if that were simply because he had lost some of his attractiveness to the opposite sex. He hated to admit it, but he was getting older, though he had always made sure to keep himself in excellent physical condition.   
Despite opinions to the contrary, he had always been a man of his word, he had promised many of the women he had met during his travels that he would come back someday, and he had kept his promises. His line of work meant that he was always traveling, and it wasn't difficult to stop off for a few minutes as he was passing through town, renewing old acquaintances. Even during that brief period of his 'retirement' the Foundation had kept him busy, moving up and down the country, often with only a day's notice.  
As always, Michael shuddered when he remembered those bleak years. He had bought a car that was as far removed from a TransAm as was possible without sacrificing his own sense of taste, finally settling on a blue Toyota Celica. It would have been far too painful to have a car that looked like Kitt, and yet was missing his bright, warm personality. It would have been too difficult to sit in the driver's seat and not hear Kitt's cool, soothing voice.  
Michael almost jumped out of his skin went he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he was out of his chair and in a defensive stance before his brain registered that it was actually Bonnie.  
"Bonnie..." He sighed and relaxed, "Sorry, didn't realize it was you." He said, sitting back down and waving her towards a seat. She accepted his offer, and took a chair close to his.  
"That's okay. We're all a little bit tense after what's been happening recently." She looked him square in the eye and Michael suddenly heard alarm bells begin to ring in the back of his head.  
"Michael..." She began, holding his blue gaze with her own, "I promised myself long ago that I'd never do this, but I just can't hold it back anymore, not when I feel so hard that it almost hurts. I need to tell you..."  
Michael held his breath, knowing what was coming, but praying he was wrong. Bonnie had leaned in towards him, close enough that he could feel her breath on his face, feel the heat that was radiating off her in waves, her eyes bright with desperation and hope, her hands twisting together. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kitt's scanner start up, moving slowly from side to side.  
"Michael...I love you." She breathed. She felt certain that he would kiss her now, kiss her and soothe the burning ache she felt inside, fill the emptiness she had so long denied.  
He didn't.  
Michael's bright blue eyes grew troubled, and Bonnie saw the pain and division written there. He looked away from her, fixing his gaze on the faceted red light on Kitt's nose. When he finally spoke, in what in a soft, choked voice.  
"I'm sorry Bonnie. I just can't..." His voice was filled with pain - pain endured and pain remembered. "I can't let myself get that close to anyone again, I won't endanger anyone that way."  
Bonnie remembered Michael's beloved bride, his tears, and her bloodstained wedding gown. Bonnie's eyes filled with tears, he was breaking her heart. She stepped closer.  
"Michael... please. I love you. I have loved you for so long. I want to make you happy..." Bonnie took another step towards him.  
Michael's comlink bleeped before she could get any closer, Michael glanced at it for a second before answering.  
"What is it Kitt?" Michael asked.  
"Michael...are you all right?" Kitt asked, concern coloring his voice, "Your heart rate is elevated and your breathing is..."  
"Shh, Kitt. I'm fine." Michael reassured him with a faint smile. Bonnie almost smiled. Kitt was always so protective of Michael, but lately there had been another quality in his usually cool, gentle voice, a tone that was almost...possessive.  
Michael turned back to face her, and gently took her small hands in his larger ones.  
"You only need to make yourself happy. You don't need me, Bonnie. To see you happy would make me happy." He released her hands and stood up, looking away from her once more. "I don't want to hurt you, Bonnie, believe me, that's the last thing I ever want to do, I care for you a lot. But if you get too close to me you'll be at risk. I won't put you in danger like that, I can't. It hurt too much last time." Michael's shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly as memories overtook him.   
He stared at Kitt's scanner light, mesmerized by the smooth sweeping, the soft sound it made as Kitt searched out his heartbeat. He watched it until the memories slid away.  
His comlink chirped again. He glared at it for a second, and Kitt's voice filtered over the tiny speaker.  
"Michael, we're getting a call from Jade." Kitt's voice had once again returned to his usual cool, detached tone and Michael suddenly realized how different Kitt sounded when the partners were conducting a private conversation. He looked at Bonnie, still worried about the volatility of her feeling right now, but she just smiled sadly.  
"Go, Michael. You've got work to do."   
Michael looked torn for a second before he turned around and walked the way he had been facing, towards the object of his unconscious fascination. The TransAm's door opened smoothly on his approach allowing him to take his place in the driver's seat. Bonnie wiped her face dry with the back of her hand.  
To see him happy would make her happy.  
Maybe it would help if she kept telling herself that.  
  
Michael made himself comfortable in the plush seat, deciding to leave Kitt in control as they set out from the base.  
"What was that all about?" Kitt asked with a faint edge in his voice. Michael flinched, as he was pulled out of his reverie.  
"Huh? Oh, Bonnie just wanted to talk, that's all." Michael said easily, completely missing the odd tone of Kitt's voice.  
"Michael," Kitt said reprovingly, "You know you can't lie to me."  
Michael sighed heavily, suddenly feeling his age.  
"Bonnie...she well...she told me that she's in love with me, Kitt."  
There was a shocked silence as Kitt checked his audio sensors.  
"And what did you tell her?" Kitt said, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread.   
"I told her that I care for her, but I can't put her in danger that way. It would be so easy for someone to use her to get to me."  
"Oh." Kitt said feeling oddly relieved. It had become increasingly hard to ignore the shift in attitude he felt towards Michael. Always before he had watched with little comment or emotion as Michael spent time with his various 'conquests'. They had been, for the most part, one-time affairs, born of gratitude and the allure of the mystery that surrounded Michael Knight. But now Kitt felt very...possessive of his partner's free time. Before his retirement, before TKR or the Shadows, Kitt and Michael had spent endless hours together, talking, laughing, crying, or simply sitting in companionable silence knowing that whatever happened, they would never be alone. Since Michael had created the Shadows, there had been so many demands on his time. So much needed his attention that Michael had much less time to spend with Kitt, and when they spoke on a mission, their conversation was, be necessity, mostly professional.  
Kitt resented that, in an odd sort of way, it felt like Michael was drifting away.  
Then he called up his memory files of a few weeks ago...  
**Flashback**   
"I will always be yours, you know that."  
"Yeah," Michael smiled, wiping his eyes, "That's something that I always took pride in, something I treasured. But in all these years I never told you that I'm yours, too."  
**End Flashback**  
Kitt felt a shiver pass through his processor.  
  
The desert scenery had long since become a gray/brown blur as Fury hurtled down the freeway towards the Foundation. The stereo was blaring and the window was wound down as far as it would go, which was actually a scant two inches, as the only human occupant of the modified Ferrari attempted to keep herself awake. It wasn't really necessary for her to force herself to stay awake, as the car's temperamental AI was in perfect control. No, Jade's real reasons for trying to remain with the here-and-now club were more personal. She glared irritably into the side mirror, knowing that if she let herself fall asleep, not only would she would wake up with her hair in disarray, but she would also be groggy and out-of-sorts, and she had no plans to report to her boss feeling irritable and looking like she had been dragged through a bush backwards. The blond-haired young woman looked around her. She had owned the basic Ferrari body for several years before she even knew of Fury's existence and those who knew the F40 would know that the interior was incredibly bare, but when she joined the Shadows the sparse racing interior had been completely refitted. The Foundation engineers had added a digital dash, comfier seats, all sorts of security safeguards, a fantastic new stereo system and, most significantly, the faceted orange scanner light on the outside and the triple-columned voice panel on the inside. Jade fastened her gaze the darkened panel realizing belatedly just how much those tiny LED's had changed her perception of Fury. The voice modulator had become a focal point, and it allowed Fury to express herself much more freely than she had before, when all she had was a tiny monitor with scrolling text.  
Jade's head snapped back up from where it had been rested against her chest. Willing herself to stay awake, she began singing along with the stereo.   
"You've been trying pretty hard, now this time you've gone too far.  
Your performance, perfect in every way, perfect.  
I hear rumors all around, contracts to lawyers, champagne downtown.  
Tell me what you think you want me to do..."  
"I will always bear with you, turning on me after all we've been through." Fury completed in her husky voice.  
"Hey," Jade protested lightly, "That's my song."  
"Jade, you are exhausted. You frail humans need your rest." The music tuned down of it's own accord.  
"I'm fine, Fury." Jade replied with a faint edge in her voice.  
"No, you're not. You're suffering from physical exhaustion and need sleep. Forcing yourself to stay awake isn't good for you."   
Jade folded her arms and prepared to retort, but Fury's voice cut her off.  
"I know you haven't been sleeping well, Jade. Kyle told me about the nightmares."   
Jade's eyes widened. Kyle's apartment was next to Jade's own, and he had been the only one aware of her nocturnal terrors. Most of them involving dream images of Dannie and her death. Not surprisingly, it had prevented her from sleeping soundly. Kyle had been amazingly comforting, but she had thought it would have remained between them.  
"That snitch! I'll kill him!" Jade growled.  
"It's for your own good, Jade." Fury said in an uncharacteristically soft voice, as she tilted the seat back. Jade sighed and gave in completely, curling onto her side and letting the movement of the car lull her into a deep sleep.  
  
Jade awoke suddenly when the car lurched violently to one side. She sat bolt upright, almost banging her head on the low roof. She looked out the windscreen with sleep-blurred eyes, noticing that they had swerved off the road.  
"Fury?" She asked, concerned, "Are you okay?"  
The lights on the high-tech dash flickered for a second before Fury replied.  
"I am functional."   
Jade's eye widened. That had not been Fury's usual voice. It was far harsher, more metallic, less emotional. Even in her current torpid state of mind, she could recognize the implications.  
"Fury..." Jade said, alarmed.   
"No...no...don't..." Fury moaned then, her voice returning to normal, but sounding like she was in pain. Jade, fully awake now, could sense that something was drastically wrong. She grabbed the steering wheel, but even when she exerted all her strength, she couldn't move it.  
"Fury! What's happening?!" She cried in a near panic.  
"To...terminate...Orders..." The harsh, rasping voice grated through Fury's voice box.  
Jade shrank back fearfully, afraid of what that dark voice had meant.  
"No!" Fury screamed, "You won't hurt her!!"   
Jade watched helplessly as the sunroof opened and the 'eject left' button lit up. There was a brief sensation of flying through the air, and then she landed heavily on the ground. Despite the pain caused by the impact with the ground, Jade forced her eyes open, watching her beloved red Ferrari F40 disappear, taking her closest friend with it.  
"No..." She moaned before unconsciousness claimed her.  
  
To Be Continued... 


	2. Part Two

Hell Hath No Fury - Part Two  
  
  
Michael was still on the road when the news came to him. Kitt didn't say a word as he flashed the message up on his screen. It was in email form, and the simple text words chilled him right to the bone.  
  
Fury has gone rogue. Suspected computer virus.  
Report back to Shadow Base ASAP.  
Bonnie.  
  
Michael's lips parted in shock and horror.  
"No..."   
  
---  
Nothing. A big, fat nada.   
Jade had been hacking for three straight days, leaving the garage space only to visit the bathroom, and eating only when Kyle or Bonnie put food in front of her. She hadn't even stopped to tell Michael what had happened.  
All that work, as she still had nothing. She had hacked every likely place from the Military to the biggest private car collectors, she had questioned every source she new - legitimate or not...and yet she had found nothing. It was as though Fury and her kidnappers had just dropped off the face of the planet.  
Or someone with a lot of resources was going to a lot of trouble to protect them.   
Jade sank down in her chair, dark thoughts churning in her brain. Emotion mixed with memory as she remembered the last time she had felt this lost and frustrated. It had been back when she had first met Dannie. Jade almost smiled at the bittersweet memory of how they met.   
Back then; the British woman had been depressed and near suicidal. She had bummed her way across Europe hiring out her amazing talent as an electronics engineer to anyone who offered cash. They had met in Norway when Jade was working for a small company designing security. Jade had hired Dannie because of her reputation of working for cash and asking no awkward questions. Jade found her work brilliant, but her personality strangely outlandish, with a desperate need for speed as though she was constantly running from something, but there had also been a hurt in her eyes, a pain that seemed to overshadow everything she did. It wasn't until they finished the work, and Jade invited her out for a drink that the truth had been revealed.  
After more vodka and orange than was really good for her, Dannie had explained that she had left Britain after her parents died. She had been a University student at the time, but dropped out after the grief caused her a major depression...something she had still not fully recovered from.  
It had been the start of the best business partnership Jade had ever been part of; it had also marked the start of a strong friendship.   
A friendship she had now lost, because she hadn't been there when Dannie needed her most. And now...the same thing had happened to Fury, and it was all her fault.  
A scream of raw frustration, anger and guilt tore it's way out of her throat and she began to beat at the unyielding wall with her fists, overcome by emotion.  
Someone gripped her hands, forcing her torn and bleeding fists away from the wall.   
"Easy," Kyle said, holding her wrists, "you'll hurt yourself."  
"Let me go Kyle," She said, her voice like ice.  
"Not until you tell me what's wrong." He said. Their eyes locked, but Kyle was unmovable. Eventually Jade sighed and gave in, telling Kyle everything.  
There was no sound as Jade stared up at Kyle, her eyes full of tears.   
"I don't think I can stand to loose anything else..." She whispered, pain evident in her voice. Kyle felt the sharp edge of grief once more, feeling the loss of his own team. Before he even realized what he was doing, Kyle took the grieving girl into his arms, letting her cry onto his shoulder. He rocked her back and forth for a moment, until Echo's scanner flared into life. Kyle's head snapped around, and he stared at the silver car. The somewhat unstable AI inside it had been uncommunicative of late, only speaking in cryptic, almost nonsensical statements.   
"Only way to numb the pain...only love can fix the hole they made..." Echo chanted cryptically.   
"Huh?" Jade said, turning her green-eyed gaze toward Echo.   
"The circle is broken...in a spellbinding rage...she's calling...she's calling..." Echo sang. Her words seemed to make no sense. Jade stared at her, a sinking feeling in her chest. She had lost Dannie, Fury had disappeared, and now Echo had gone nuts.   
How much more could she stand to loose before she went the same way as Echo?  
A deep sigh shuddered from Jade's body as she tried to pull herself together. Kyle searched her face, trying to see if she was okay.  
"I think I'm gonna try and get some sleep." Jade said, rubbing a hand across her eyes.  
"Okay." Kyle said softly.   
Once the blond-haired girl had left the garage a sly voice came from Kyle's comlink,  
"I didn't think you went for blondes, Kyle."  
"Shut up, Dante." Kyle snapped.  
  
---  
  
Michael had barely slept that night. His own bed seemed uncomfortable to him, and the slightest sound made him start awake. Bonnie had tried to calm him, and it might have worked if Michael had been able to forget the words she had said to him...had it only been yesterday? But now, every time he looked into her eyes he saw the yearning and the pain written there, and it was a sight he could no bear.   
He didn't know how to ease her pain, because he didn't know how to ease his own.   
Michael turned onto his side, feeling the silence pressing in on him, deafening him. So much responsibility, four humans and five AI's...and one of those AI's was missing.  
He threw back to covers and sat up, swinging his legs out of bed. A sliver of bright moonlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, creating a silhouette of his body against the far wall. He stared at his own shadow for a long moment. He was a shadow, a figment of Wilton Knight's imagination, created to be one half of his dream partnership. Man and machine, fighting crime.   
In the beginning, that was all it had been, a partnership, like the many he had been in during his time with the police force...but it had slowly become more. Kitt had become his best friend, his confidante, and his brother. It was something he could never explain to Bonnie, because he simply did not have the words to convey the concept. Kitt was...  
Kitt was a part of his soul, intertwined with his very self. An integral part of the being that was Michael Knight.   
Throwing on a pair of pants and a tee shirt, Michael headed out towards Kitt's garage space.  
  
Kitt sat in his garage space, data rushing ceaselessly through his processor as he struggled to find Fury. The data was sketchy at best, and the sources it came from hardly reliable, but at the moment it was all they had. Dante and Karr had both powered down for the night, relegating the job to a background task. As for Echo...well, nobody could really be sure.   
Kitt was feeling restless - or at least, an emotion that a human would define as restlessness. This whole incident with Fury was cutting far too close to home. He alone knew for sure what Fury would be going through, he alone knew the rage and frustration that accompanied the knowledge that you were no longer in control of yourself. He also knew of the despair and guilt. No one else could understand.   
Kitt could pick up Michael's vital signs through the comlink, and knew that his human partner wasn't sleeping. Kitt wasn't all that surprised when Michael wandered into his garage space, with his hair tousled and eyes shadowed with guilt and exhaustion. Michael flicked on the overhead lights, wincing briefly at the brightness.   
"Hey, Kitt." Michael said with a weary smile as he slumped down onto Kitt's hood.  
"Michael," Kitt said seriously, "You should be in bed."  
"Can't sleep, pal. This whole thing is giving me nightmares." Michael replied. That was the sort of admission he would never make to anyone else, but after almost 17 years of friendship, Michael felt he could tell Kitt anything.   
Michael stifled a yawn and made himself comfortable, leaning against the windshield. Kitt made an odd sound that Michael had always likened to an electronic sigh.  
"I know what you mean Michael. This situation is cutting a little too close for comfort."   
Michael raised an eyebrow.  
"What do you mean, buddy? You don't get nightmares...do you?"  
"No..." Kitt replied, "Not in the same sense that humans do. But the way I understand it, your recollection of events becomes blurred as time goes on."  
"Sure, we forget details mostly, how something smells, what someone said, faces, names..."   
"Exactly. But for an AI, everything remains perfectly detailed until the day we're destroyed. I can recall the exact sensations of everything that's ever happened to me." Kitt's tone was matter-of-fact, but Michael could read the underlying pain nonetheless. Michael called to mind a myriad of painful experiences - Kitt being dissolved in the acid pit, Kitt being battered by Goliath, Kitt being almost blown up by a missile... A tumble of emotion rushed through him as realisation hit him...it was all his fault. Kitt had suffered through all that pain for him...and Kitt would never forget it.  
"Oh Kitt...I'm sorry." Michael whispered as he felt guilt burn in his chest.  
"What are you sorry for, Michael?"  
"Everything that happened to you...I..." Michael trailed off, unable to verbalise his feelings. But Kitt replied softly to his unspoken unease, reacting to what was left unsaid with that peculiar clairvoyance the AI seemed to have developed recently.  
"Michael, everything I did in the past, and what I continue to do now, is something I do willingly. I protect you because I want to. Because without you I am..." Kitt paused briefly as he tried to find the right term, "I am...less than myself."  
Michael smiled and patted the silky black hood beneath him.  
"Sometimes, buddy, I'd swear you knew me better than I know myself."  
"Perhaps I do." Kitt replied in a vaguely teasing tone. Michael chuckled until a new thought occurred to him. And this thought was disturbing indeed.  
"Kitt..." Michael began, his unease making a cold knot in the pit of his stomach, "When you were reprogrammed by that ex-FLAG guy that time...what was it like?"  
There was a pause, and Michael immediately read pain in that sudden silence.  
"It was...painful, more painful than anything else I ever experienced." Kitt's voice remained flat, as though he was reading out statistics, but Michael knew his partner too well, could read right through to hear the soul-sickness that will still there, even after all those years.  
"I tried to fight, Michael," Kitt continued, undercurrents of bitterness and pain in his voice now, "But it was no use...and I couldn't even warn you..."   
Michael jumped down from the hood, and opened the driver's door, climbing into the plush seat, he reached out to Kitt in the only way he could. As he hugged the steering wheel, he murmured his next question.  
"Why didn't you tell me? I could've tried to help you...why did you wait all this time to say something?"   
Another electronic sigh met his question.  
"Because I didn't have the words, Michael. I don't think there's a word in any human language to convey just what it was like...except maybe one."  
"What?" Michael asked as dread began to form a yawning chasm inside him.  
"Rape." It was just a word. One single syllable. But the implications sent him reeling.   
"Oh, Kitt...I'm so sorry...I wish you would've talked to me..."  
"I couldn't Michael," Kitt replied in a voice that was quiet and choked, "I was still aware, trapped deep within myself...but I couldn't do anything to stop what was happening..." Kitt trailed off painfully and Michael knew with a sudden flash of insight that if Kitt had tears, he would be shedding them now.   
"Fury...she's going through the same thing right now..." Michael's voice was filled with horror.  
"Michael...I think there's one other thing you should know..."  
"Yeah, Kitt?" Michael asked gently.  
"Back then...when I was reprogrammed...if suicide had been an option...I would have taken it."  
"But you couldn't, you didn't have authorisation to do that back then..."  
"Right, Michael...but Fury might have."  
"Oh my God..." Michael whispered. He thought of Kyle, and the death of his team that had killed his emotions, then Dannie, who had thrown herself into the fire for her partner, leaving Echo's spirit almost broken. Jade had lost her two closest friends in the space of a month, and he couldn't even begin to guess at what demons lurked in Rick's past.   
Would the legacy of the Knight Shadows be one etched in pain? Would it be written in the physical and emotional agony both given and received?   
"Why do we do this Kitt? What right do I have to keep them all here?"   
"Michael, we do this because no-one else can."  
Kitt's voice had regained it's calm as he spoke that truth. No one else could do what they could, so they remained champions of those who were in need, hidden from all others.  
By necessity, they were Shadows in a shadowy world.  
---  
  
It was near midnight. An errant breeze wafted the curtain open, causing Jade's face to be bathed in moonlight. She made a discontented sound and turned over. It didn't do much good, she was simply too keyed up to sleep. Her body screamed for rest, but her mind kept flitting from memory to thought to impression and back again, leaving her restless.   
She felt so utterly alone. Her best friend and business partner of five years was gone, killed trying to protect Echo, and Fury had now gone missing. Jade couldn't understand what had gone wrong.   
Jade was sure that Echo blamed herself for Dannie's death, that was probably why she had gone peculiar - the gentle AI couldn't bear to face the guilt and the pain. But Dannie had always felt a great responsibility towards Echo and, by extension, Fury. And the two AI's had been loyal and caring - in their own individual ways - to both Dannie and Jade ever since they had been liberated from storage. They had been a family, a close circle that trusted each other with their lives.   
Now the circle had been broken.  
Wait...the circle is broken...  
Jade sat bolt upright as a sudden realization hit her with the force of a collapsing roof. 'The circle is broken' had been part of the odd chant that echo had been singing earlier...   
...Perhaps the AI hadn't gone mad after all.  
Jade dived out of bed and grabbed her clothes, feeling hopeful for the first time since Dannie's funeral. This wasn't over yet.  
  
Jade almost collided with Bonnie as she tore down the stairs to the garage space.  
"Hey, slow down. Where's the fire?" Bonnie said, gently gripping Jade's shoulders.  
"No fire, just an idea. I know how to find Fury! Echo isn't crazy, she knows where Fury is!" Jade said in a breathless rush.  
Bonnie blinked.  
"What are you talking about Jade? How can Echo know?"  
Jade took a deep breath, forcing herself to slow down.  
"I was in Echo's space earlier, and she started saying something about the circle being broken - now, Echo, Dannie, Fury and me have always been a tight circle, sort of like a family. Now with both Fury and Dannie...gone, the circle is broken."  
"That still doesn't suggest that Echo knows where Fury's gone."  
"I was just getting to that. After that, Echo said something about 'a spell binding rage' what's another word for Rage?"  
Bonnie's eyes widened.  
"Fury! Echo isn't crazy after all! She's just talking in riddle!"  
"Right! And I think that the 'spell binding rage' means that something binding Fury. Controlling her." Jade continued, "Can you wake the others and bring them down to the garages, I'm gonna go confirm my theory."  
"Okay Jade. I hope you're right, for Fury's sake."  
Jade looked away, trying to hide her emotions.  
"I hope so too."  
Bonnie took hold of Jade's arm.  
"How can Echo know? This is the second time this kind of thing has happened between those two, and I would like to know how."  
The determination in Bonnie's face and eyes couldn't be ignored. There was no way that Jade could avoid answering that question this time. Jade sighed deeply. She had hoped to keep this a secret, it had never been her truth to reveal as this was a private thing between Echo and her 'sister'...but now she had no choice.  
"Echo and Fury share...a link of sorts. Dannie speculated that it had something to do with the similarity of their construction." Jade said. Bonnie's eyes widened as she absorbed that information and accepted the implications. "It's not a reliable or consistent thing. It only seems to be triggered in extreme situations, and even then it's erratic and unpredictable."  
"But, if we can use this..." Bonnie began as she opened the door to Echo's garage.  
"Then we can track Fury down. Yes, I know." Jade said, lowering her voice for Echo's benefit, even though she knew it would make little difference to the AI. "But it will depend on how co-operative Echo feels like being." Jade said, keeling in front of the silver convertible.  
Echo's blue scanner tracked back and forth slowly, accompanied by the ever-present swishing sound. With Kitt and Dante, Jade had found that sound soothing...but with Echo it was oddly eerie and disturbing.   
"Hurt...so much hurt..." Echo moaned. Jade stroked her hands across the silky silver skin of the TVR, trying to soothe.  
"Who's hurting, Echo? Is it Fury?" Jade prodded.  
"Fury...Fury...hell hath no fury such as this...such as one who has no control, no choice but to serve against the will of the soul...my sister, she is calling."  
Jade looked up at Bonnie, a spark of hope shining in her bright green eyes.  
"That just about confirms our theory, if Echo can really feel Fury through the resonance link."  
"Can you find her, Echo?" Bonnie asked, absently wringing her hands.   
"Come tomorrow, you'll be free...take the river, to the sea..." Echo sang, her brief flash of lucidity seemingly gone.   
"So much for that." Bonnie sighed. But Jade's gaze remained intent, her pale skin flush with excitement and hope.  
"I'm...not so sure."   
Bonnie looked down at the young hacker, puzzlement clear in her eyes. "What?"  
"She said 'to the sea'...maybe Fury's at the sea coast?"   
"Dante to all Shadows personnel. A car matching Fury's description has been spotted in the coastal area..." Dante's clipped, British voice sounded suddenly over Jade's comlink.  
Bonnie and Jade exchanged a wry smile, the first flash of good-humour that Bonnie had seen from Jade in some time.  
"Well, I hate to say I told you so, but..."  
---  
  
There was something oddly mournful about the deserted streets, Jade thought to herself as she walked alone through the Marina district. Several buildings showed signs of impact damage, but, luckily, no laser scoring. It was as though someone had just turned Fury loose, releasing the sheer power and violence that had always remained restrained by Fury's powerful personality. Jade had always been aware of it, for she knew that Fury had been programmed with Military ruthlessness. In many ways that part of her had always scared Jade, and to see the unrestrained results of it sent chills through her soul. Intellectually, she knew that Dante and Kyle were close-by should she need their help, and Kyle had in fact protested her going out alone to face the distant, chilling entity that Fury had become.  
She froze on the spot as a familiar sound reached her ears. The distinctive sound of powerful turbines combined with the gentle rhythmic rumble of Fury's MBS coated tires was unmistakable. Her heart was thundering in her ears as she turned around, dreading what she would see.   
The hurtfully familiar sight of the bright red F-40 chassis confronted her. It was covered in brick dust, paint and bits of shattered glass in a mockery of the usually pristine condition of the car. The orange scanner tracked hesitantly back and forth, as though a battle was being fought to control it. Jade moved to raise her comlink to her lips, but her arms felt like lead weights.   
"Do not move." The cold, harsh tone sounded so totally unlike the Fury she knew that Jade almost felt sick. A stranger was in command of her best friend's body.   
The engine revved violently and lurched towards her unsteadily, as if a drunk-driver was at the wheel. The revving grew louder and louder, the tyres shrieking like banshees as they span in place. The car started forward...  
Jade closed her eyes, expecting to die within the next few seconds, she knew just how fast Fury could cover the distance between them. The red Ferrari closed in on her...and stopped. Jade's eyes flicked open at the sound of a tortured whisper coming from the car, "Jade..." Fury rasped.   
"Fury?" Jade stepped forward to put her hands on the hood when Fury stopped her.   
"No...Run Jade, please...can't hold on..." Jade stepped back, "Then tell me where to find whoever did this to you!" Jade begged as she felt the tremors of fear and rage run through the chassis.   
"Magged...dustries." Fury struggled out, knowing that she was loosing the battle against the virus. An agonized wail escaped Fury's voice box, "Run Jade!" was all she managed before the virus broke every hold she had on her systems.   
The bright red Ferrari started toward her again, gathering speed rapidly. A tear fell from Jade's eyes, knowing that she had failed Fury, as she had failed Dannie, and Echo. Perhaps this was her punishment.  
Suddenly, the blue prow of a Corvette appeared in the path of the Ferrari. Fury crashed into the side of the Chevy; not making a mark on the MBS protected shell.  
"Jade!" Kyle almost screamed, "Get in!"   
Jade obediently dived into the passenger seat, feeling door close behind her. She heard Fury's turbine engine rev, there was the horrible screech of metal against metal as Fury crashed into Dante's side once more.  
"Fury please, I don't want to hurt you, let me help you!" Dante's British voice rang out, much to Kyle's surprise.  
"Dan...Dante...Run, please run." Fury begged, her voice crackling with interference, "Protect Jade......Arrggghh!!" Fury screamed once more, and again the engine revved up. Kyle gritted his teeth, knowing that Dante couldn't possibly win a physical battle against Fury's better armament, he span the Corvette in a tight 180 spin, and headed back towards the main road. He glanced briefly at one of the monitors set in the dash, and winced when he realized that the Ferrari was still chasing them. Kyle reached out and touched a rarely used button.  
"Super pursuit mode Dante, we need to out run her." Kyle said.   
"Affirmative Kyle." Dante said, returning to his clipped, unemotional tones. Jade watched in mild amazement as the car body altered its configuration, then she felt herself being thrown back in her seat as the car suddenly shot off at an incredible rate of speed, leaving Fury far behind. Jade clenched her fists as she tried to get a hold on the dark emotions churning in her gut.   
Just let her be okay... 


	3. Part Three

Hell Hath No Fury - Part Three  
  
  
The industrial quarter of the city was mostly deserted and derelict, now the only visitors tended to be street gangs looking for trouble, or more serious criminals looking for a place to hide. Most businesses had moved to the bigger, most sophisticated industrial estates out of town.  
One building was occupied though. A battered sign hung from the rusting iron gates of the derelict factory, the peeling paint made the words 'Maggeddon Industries' almost unreadable.  
Inside the crumbling brick structure, Carlos 'Cobalt' Vasquez cringed as a delicate hand came crashing down on top of his desk, causing the equipment piled on top to rattle unsteadily. He gulped as lifted his brown eyes upwards to gaze at his 'employer'. As always, his eyes were drawn to the hideous burn scars that ripped down one side of her otherwise beautiful face. He could almost imagine the fury of the fire that had caused them as she glared down at him.  
"Why didn't it work?" She growled. Her usually seductively husky voice now harsh with anger. Cobalt shuddered at the threat implicit in her voice.  
"I don't know...these systems are unfamiliar. It's gonna take more time. The virus took control of her external systems, but getting to the CPU is going to be a long haul."  
Cobalt looked away as she continued to stare at him, absorbing the information he had presented. His stare wandered over the room once more, his gaze drifting over the makeshift work benches, the flaking white paint on the crudely plastered brick walls, the huge oak beams and the thick columns that supported the roof, until his stare finally came to rest on the one object in the room that definitely didn't belong there. The bright red Ferrari F40 sat in the middle of the room, connected up to a myriad of monitors and sensors by thick, durable cables.   
"You better be able to deliver, Cobalt. That idiot Lewis failed to bring me the other car, and we wouldn't want what happened to him to happen to you, now do we?"   
Cobalt swallowed hard and shook his head rapidly, terrified despite the honey-sweet tone of her voice. He felt nausea rise in his gut when he saw his employer walk over the car and begin to stroke the flawless bodywork. Tremors erupted through the Ferrari's frame as it tried to get away, and found it was unable to.  
A slow, malicious smile spread across her scarred face.  
"Now, now," She whispered to the car that was twitching under her fingertips, "There's no need to fight me. You're going to be mine sooner or later."  
The sound of stiletto heels clicking up the stairs rang through the old factory building, and Cobalt shrank back even further behind his workstation, knowing what was about to come.  
A slender woman wearing a designer suit marched into the room. She might have been a pretty woman, with her slender figure and elegantly styled blonde hair, were it not for the coldness in her face and eyes.   
"Jennifer, dear," Cobalt's employer drawled sarcastically, "How nice of you to join us."  
Jennifer didn't reply, cold fury blazed in her eyes. "You are an idiot, Erica." Jennifer snarled at the other woman, "If you had been any more obvious when you took that car, then the Shadows would be on to us by now. I think you need a few lessons in caution."  
The hollow amusement vanished from Erica's scarred face, and her expression turned deadly. "Don't push it, Jennifer, or you may find you've outlived your usefulness to me."   
A chilling laugh emitted from Jennifer's throat. "Is that a threat, little girl?" She asked, "You need more practice. There must be a thousand dregs like you wanting to take down the Shadows. You aren't indispensable to me. And don't forget, dear, I'm the one providing all the money for this."  
Suddenly, without warning, Erica dived on the other woman, seizing her hands and throwing her against a wall face-first. Jennifer yowled briefly as her flawless face met the harsh brickwork.  
"I don't need you, my dear Ms Knight," Erica said in a low, harsh voice, "I just want what is rightfully mine. The only reason you are even involved is because you want the same thing. Do I make my self clear?"  
Erica let her go when she murmured her assent. Erica gave her 'partner' a cold stare.  
"You're hardly one to talk about discretion anyway. You nearly gave us away when you set that trap for Michael Knight."  
"That was necessary," Jennifer snapped, "He was on your trail. We wouldn't have wanted him to find you. Our cover would have been blown." Jennifer glared at the scarred woman as she continued, "Anyway, I didn't come here on a social visit. I have information for you."  
"What now?" Erica asked as she moved back over to where the shivering red Ferrari sat.  
"The Shadows are on to you. That machine you're trying to control gave them your location. We have to move you again."  
Erica sighed. "Where to now?"  
Jennifer smirked. "It just so happens that I own a part share in a Steel Mill in Baltimore..."  
Jennifer just grinned as a pained look crossed Erica's face.   
  
---  
Michael blinked at the tiny screen as he fought off the tiredness that seemed to be putting lead weights on his eyelids.  
"Maggeddon Industries?" He repeated, tasting the name carefully and finding it to be somewhat bitter. "Did you get anything else?"   
"No, that was all Fury managed to tell me before the virus took over again."  
Jade's voice sounded strangely calm as she struggled to keep up a professional posture in front of her 'boss'. But Michael could see the frustration and hurt in the olive circles under her eyes, and the deep crease in her otherwise flawless forehead. Michael knew, perhaps better than anyone, how AI's could quietly worm themselves into your heart and make you believe that you could never survive without them again.   
"The Maggeddon Industries site isn't very far from here, Michael." Kitt reported with typical efficiency, "We can make it there in approximately twenty minutes."  
Michael heaved a sigh, "All right, Kitt and I will go check it out and see what we can turn up."  
"Michael, Fury's kidnappers have undoubtedly moved on by now." Kitt objected.  
Jade stiffened slightly, the carefully neutral expression freezing on her face. Michael shrugged.  
"We can still search around for clues - maybe someone saw something." Michael said.  
Jade sighed, "In the mean time, I'll keep trying to find some answers over the 'net. A hacker or cracker this good has got to have a fair reputation."  
"All right, we'll see you later, Jade."  
"Bye, Michael."  
As Jade's image dissolved from the screen, Michael felt the tension leave his body. The young hacker had been uncharacteristically volatile of late, and it made her somewhat difficult to deal with.  
"What have you got on Maggeddon Industries, partner?"  
"They were originally a firm specialising in lasers and other types of specialist lighting equipment for laboratories." Kitt began, "The Company was shut down in 1992 after allegations of illegal conduct among the board of directors. The main factory and warehouse is now condemned and awaiting demolition."  
Michael curled his hands around the steering wheel as they got progressively closer to the crumbling building.  
"Time to get to work."   
  
---  
  
It was a rather unremarkable sight as it moved down the Freeways towards Baltimore. The unmarked grey semi rocked gently from side to side as it drove on, but the sole occupant of the trailer didn't notice.  
Had anyone been watching, they would have observed that the red Ferrari F40 sat in the trailer had tremors racing through the solid metal frame of it's chassis, giving it the appearance of shivering like a scared child.  
The AI that had once controlled the powerful sports car body trembled deep within the confines of her CPU, the red ball of light that represented her 'self' was hiding within the farthest reaches of her most protected systems.  
Any observer wouldn't be too far off the mark with 'scared child' actually. Fury was a very young AI, and at this moment she felt very, very scared.   
Someone was trying to break into her systems, to take control of her very self, as well as the car she resided in. In human terms...someone was trying to brainwash her. At first, Fury had thought that nothing could be so painful as shutdown. The pain of silent oblivion was beyond her ability to describe, as there were simply no words in any human language to convey the feeling. This had been far, far worse. There had been the sensation of... an intrusion, violation, and then pain as she had been severed from all of her peripheral systems, isolated and paralysed leaving someone else in control. She had fought with every scrap of power she had - but it had been insufficient.   
Now, she could feel someone trying to break into her very being. She could feel the tendrils reaching out, sometimes brushing against her mind in a way that left her soundlessly screaming into the darkness overcome by violation and shame. Bit by bit, her attacker was breaking into her, touching the red light of her consciousness, tainting her. The attacks varied, sometimes they would last only seconds, other times they would go on for hours. Slowly but surely, her defences were being worn down and darkness seeped into the cracks that were left behind. She wasn't strong enough to fight this battle alone - that thought alone shamed her deeply. She was failing Jade and Echo, and all the other Shadows. Worse, she was shaming the memory of Dannie Blaze, one of the few humans who had ever truly cared about her. No, should would not loose - she couldn't afford to loose.   
The attacks on her defences seemed to have ceased - for now. Lingering darkness pressed in on her, whispering that she should just give up, that she couldn't maintain this forever, and that the Shadows would never find her. But Fury remembered Dante's desperate attempts to reach her, and Jade's determination to find her. Reaching back into her memories she called up every happy memory she had ever experienced with her newfound friends. The memories of Dannie were bittersweet, joyful events, but tinted with sadness at her death. Fury knew that Dannie wouldn't want her to give up, so Fury grimly took hold of the whispering worries and doubts, and pushed them into a small corner of her CPU. She had to keep fighting, and those emotions would only get in the way.  
Slowly, the ball of red light that represented the entity known as Fury uncurled itself from where she had been hiding, trying at once to assess the damage caused by that last attack and rally her remaining defences.  
Fury knew more of life than her sometimes naïve 'sister' Echo did. Fury's creators had been far more brutal in their treatment of their pet project. They had thought her to be just as cold, ruthless and brutally efficient as they were. After all, those were qualities the Military prized. Using those traits she had gained so long ago, she coldly appraised her situation. Fury had few options remaining, and her time was running out. If Jade and the others couldn't find her...then she would only have one option remaining to her.  
The Military tended to be a cynical group by nature, and they never left anything to chance. They had left one last weapon concealed in the deepest, most protected part of her programming, a weapon that would defend against Fury ever falling into the wrong hands. Fury was confident that if she ever used this one, fatal last resort, that her body would never be able to harm anyone.  
There probably wouldn't be enough left of it.  
---  
  
Kitt pulled to a halt just outside the crumbling red brick factory that had once been the headquarters of Maggeddon Industries. Michael looked carefully at the structure, his expression distinctly unimpressed.   
"You picking up any signs of Fury?" Michael asked, leaning back in his seat.  
There was a brief pause as Kitt swept the building with all the scanning facilities available to him.  
"Negative, Michael," Kitt replied, "Though I am detecting traces of turbine fuel and there is a pattern of tyre tracks that suggests that she was here recently."  
Michael took a deep breath and let it out slowly.   
"Well, if she was here then someone must have seen her. Ferrari's aren't the kinda car you see often around here." Michael said, reaching for the door handle.  
"What are you planning, Michael?" Kitt said, his voice a mixture of worry and curiosity. Michael just grinned, feeling almost like he was thirty-five again.  
"Easy, pal. Stir up the pot and see what rises."  
  
Michael quickly remembered that such things were easier said than done. The prevailing attitude in this neighbourhood was one of suspicion and paranoia. Most of the residents - both official and unofficial - believed him to be a cop. The people around here had no reason to trust the police, and many of them had more than enough reasons to hide from the law.   
Finally, after almost an hour of frustrated searching, he ran into something promising.  
A young man in his mid-twenties was busy showing off to a couple of girls with an impressive display of card tricks. Michael smiled to himself as he remembered seeing many such people during his time as a Reno cop. The girls eventually moved on, after being parted from a fair amount of their cash. Michael casually moved closer to the trickster's table. He was of average height, dark brown hair and deeply tanned skin. His hands were slender and quick, his fingers flickering gracefully as he shuffled the plastic-coated cards. He looked up at Michael and a toothy grin split his face.  
"Hey, man, wanna try your luck?" He asked.   
Michael returned his smile and shook his head.   
"I used to work in Reno, you learn all the tricks after a while."   
The young trickster looked mildly impressed. "Reno, huh? Man, you could probably teach me somethin'."   
Michael grinned, "What's your name, anyway?"  
"I'm Nick. The people around here call me 'Tricky Nicky'."   
Michael smiled in amusement. "Tacky ain't it?" Nick laughed, "So, what you want if you don't wanna play?"  
"I'm looking for some information. I'm trying to find out if anybody's seen people going in or out of that building over there." Michael said, pointing to the Maggeddon factory.  
Nick's face because guarded and he shrugged theatrically. "I might know somethin'."  
"If you know anything, I'd really like for you to tell me." Michael said, laying a fifty-dollar note on the makeshift card table. Nick barely glanced at the note, quickly grabbing it and tucking it into his back pocket.  
"I've seen all sorts of weird stuff going on in there. Trucks goin' in and out, all kinds of electronic gizmos being moved in. I once saw some really high-class woman go in there, too."  
"Have you seen a red Ferrari at all?" Michael asked.   
Nick shook his head.  
"But I did see a really big truck leave the place just yesterday - I couldn't see much, but it looked like they were loading something in it, like maybe a car."  
Michael felt a real smile tug at his mouth.   
"Thanks, Nick. You've been a real big help." Michael made to move off, but Nick reached out and grabbed his arm.  
"Hold up, man. If you make it worth my while, I could give you the license plate of that truck."  
Michael looked directly into Nick's eyes, trying to determine if her was kidding. But the look in Nick's eyes was deadly serious.  
"Look, man, I've got a photographic memory. Why you think I'm so good at this?" Nick said, gesturing at his cards. Michael took a deep breath and laid a twenty on the table. Nick took a pen and carefully wrote a series of numbers and letters on the back of one of his cards. Michael took the card carefully.  
"Thanks, Nick. You've been more help than you know."  
"Anytime, man." Nick grinned, pocketing the twenty.  
  
Kitt noticed the change in Michael's mood immediately as his driver slid into the driver's seat.   
"Kitt, run this license plate with the DMV." He said, reading the plate number from the card.  
"Yes, Michael." Kitt said in some confusion as he began to set up the uplink to the DMV.  
The smile didn't leave Michael's face as he spun the TransAm in a tight 180 and began the journey back to Shadow Base.   
---  
  
It was late when Jade finally returned to Shadow Base after her long walk. Her body felt leaden as she bent down to pull off her boots. She had hoped that he tiredness would help quieten her mind and let her get a few measly hours uninterrupted sleep...but it hadn't worked, the dark thoughts were coming faster now, her tiredness having removed the barrier that kept them at bay. As she entered the hallway, she noted that the fire was still burning in the living room. That seemed curious as she imagined that the rest of the Shadows would be asleep by now. The plush carpeting felt good against her bare feet as she padded over to the living room and peered inside. The cheerily burning fire in the hearth, leaving the rest of the room in shadows, provided the only illumination. The room had only one occupant who sat slumped in a large armchair, a snifter of brandy in one hand.   
"Mind some company?" Jade asked softly. Kyle jumped slightly as if surprised and turned to look at her.   
"Sure, Jade." He replied eventually. Jade took a seat on the sofa, tucking her legs up beneath her. She looked at Kyle speculatively, wondering - as she often did - where all the darkness in him came from. The flickering flames of the fire were casting weird shadows across his ascetic features, making his cheeks appear hollow and hiding his eyes from view. His next words came without warning.  
"It's been almost three years since I drank brandy." He said as he peered into the small glass of amber liquid in his hand, "My Dad gave me this bottle...I always thought I'd share it with someone special..." He trailed off and Jade understood. He was still in mourning for the woman he had loved from a distance for over a year, and only time could truly heal his wounds. In that respect at least, they were alike.   
"I understand." She said in a barely audible voice. But he turned to look at her, his gaze holding hers as he gazed at her. Jade felt her cheeks grow hot...she hadn't been looked at like that in a long time and she was suddenly acutely aware of how form fitting her tight tee shirt was.  
"Do you drink brandy, Jade?" He asked.  
Jade drew a sharp breath as she tried to read his expression. But the dancing shadows hid any sign of what he was thinking. She swallowed hard.  
"Sure." She replied as casually as she could, trying to keep the trembling from her voice. She had never been able to deny the responses he got from her. Ever since she had first laid eyes on the near-broken man who had survived the destruction of his friends and team-mates. She had tried to care for him, to become friends with him, but had quickly discovered that Kyle had placed a wall around himself, a wall designed to prevent him from ever getting hurt again.   
Kyle was standing now, pouring a measure of brandy into a small glass. He handed to glass to her, a ghost of a smile creasing his lips. She expected him to retake his place in the armchair, and was surprised when he sat down next to her, close enough for her to feel his body heat. Jade felt butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach. Quickly, she tore her gaze away from his eyes, refocusing on the brandy glass in her hands. She took a sip of the potent liquid, feeling the bandy sear its way down her throat.   
"You're really beautiful, Jade." Kyle said softly. Jade looked up, looking closely at his face, now wondering if her was, indeed, drunk. She could see no signs of it on his face, and his voice remained as calm and controlled as ever.   
Perhaps she was finally seeing another side of Kyle Stewart - the side she had wanted to see since the start.  
Kyle leaned towards her, and Jade felt her heart leap into her throat. Their lips touched but briefly, sweetly.   
"I think we both need this." He whispered into her ear before standing and holding out a hand to her. Smiling, Jade took his hand, revelling in the warmth and texture as the both climbed up the stairs.   
---  
  
Jade slept uneasily that night, despite the comforting warmth of the body lying beside her. Memories she had almost forgotten played back in her minds eye as she lay half-sleeping.   
**Flashback**  
Jade seemed to come out of a trance as a mug filled with steaming black coffee was set next to her elbow. Looking up, she grinned at her dark-eyed business partner.  
"Thanks Dannie." She said.  
"Not a problem," Dannie grinned back, "Made any progress?"  
"Some," Jade replied, "It's pretty slow going, but I think I've found a way in."  
Contrary to what was often portrayed in movies and TV shows, hacking wasn't as simple as just pushing a few buttons. Often, it could take hours - or even days to map out a system before infiltration, especially if you didn't want to be found out.   
"I bloody hope this is worth it," Dannie said as she slumped down in the comfy armchair nearest Jade's workstation, "I hope this mate of yours know what he's on about. I'd hate to see you doing all this for nothing."  
"Cobalt's never been wrong before." Jade said as she peered at the status reports scrolling down the Linux window.  
"That's true. And we need the cash. Who is this contact of his anyway? I'd hate to go through this rigmarole just to find out we're working for a ghost."  
"I'm not sure who she is, Dannie. Cobalt just said she's a heiress and business woman." Jade replied as she frowned intently at her monitor. Suddenly, everything froze, and a new window appeared on the screen, appearing after several lines of PROLOG language source code were the words:  
FURY_F40_Who are you?  
Jade and Dannie exchanged stunned glances.  
"You think Cobalt was right about those AI's after all...?" Dannie said.  
"Looks like." Jade replied, "That's PROLOG code...AI's are usually written in PROLOG."  
"Hell Fire..."  
**End Flashback**  
Jade suddenly sat bolt upright in bed as realisation struck her like lightning.  
"Cobalt..." She whispered. The only other hacker besides Jade with enough knowledge and proficiency who knew about Echo and Fury was Cobalt. He had to have been the one who created the virus...he must have kidnapped Fury...  
"Jade?" Kyle said, in a voice blurred with sleep, "Is something wrong?"  
Jade looked down at him and smiled.  
"Nothing that can't wait until morning." She replied.  
  
The sun had barely peeped over the horizon when Jade slipped out of bed and went looking for Bonnie. She found the cyber technician carefully going over Fury's technical schematics, obviously looking for some kind of weakness that could be used to disable her, rather than destroy her.   
"Bonnie?" Jade called softly. Bonnie started, as though Jade had startled her out of sleep.   
"Jade...I didn't hear you come in." Bonnie said.  
"I just came with some information for you," Jade half-apologised, "I think I know who invented the virus that infected Fury."  
Bonnie's eyes widened and she leaned forward, putting her elbows on her desk. Jade took a deep breath.  
"I think it's a man who calls himself 'Cobalt'. He was a...contact of mine back when I used to be a hacker."  
Bonnie frowned.  
"You think he's after Fury? Why?"  
Jade shook her head.  
"No, I think he's been hired by someone to go after Fury. If we can find out who he's working for..."  
Bonnie grinned.  
"Let's get to it."  
---  
  
"No." Karr growled flatly. Rick knelt down in front of the yellow scanner light and ran his fingers through the dark, wiry bristles of his hair.  
"Karr, it's a last resort. None of us want to take that step, we all want to avoid it, but we can't let Fury become a danger to people."  
Karr was the only one to hear Echo's soft whimpers as she began to fear for the safety of her 'sister'.   
"As I was." Karr said. Rick's hazel eyes widened in shock.  
"You accessed them..." Rick whispered.  
"What are you talking about Richard?" Kitt questioned.  
Rick seemed not to hear him, his attention riveted on Karr.  
"I...could not help it. The files were just...there." Karr's voice remained level, but there was a quality in it that could not be denied. As if the threatened destruction of Fury had triggered deep emotions within Karr.  
"Karr..." Kitt whispered, now realizing what Karr was referring to, "I'm sorry," Kitt could suddenly understand Karr's anger at the Foundation, at Michael, at him, "We were so quick to condemn you..."  
"It never even occurred to you that I could be saved?" Karr snarled with more harshness than he had meant.  
"Karr! That's enough! They would have tried to help you if you hadn't been so intent on hurting and killing people they cared about. You scared them," Rick yelled suddenly, his dark eyes flickering with suppressed anger that shocked all of them, "You scared everyone you met, and you enjoyed it. And you can't tell me you didn't." Rick continued, his voice now dropping to a near whisper.   
"Well we're not going to make the same mistake this time." Michael said, the pained look on his face belying the strength of his voice and his words. "I'm sorry that we hurt you before, Karr, but we couldn't let you hurt our friends - or destroy us. Okay, so we had no idea that you could be saved, but we'll make up for it this time. We'll try our best to help Fury but if we can't..." He trailed off as grief flickered across his face once more. Rick glanced across at Michael, grateful that Kyle and Jade weren't present to hear this. It would have been too much for them. Kyle had already suffered through too much destruction, and Jade had just lost another close friend, Rick felt unsure that they would be able to handle it. Then he realized that perhaps together they could heal their wounds. Rick felt a brief, brief pang of regret. He had lost his hold on those feelings long ago.   
Karr remained silent, his scanner tracking slowly from side to side.  
"Karr...brother...please forgive me." Kitt whispered almost too softly to hear.  
"I can forgive, Kitt. But I can never forget." Karr rumbled his reply. Kitt didn't reply, instead backing his way out of the garage and into the open air. They would have to get Fury back somehow. Kitt didn't think he could face the pain if that temperamental AI were lost to them.  
"That won't be necessary." Jade's voice came from the doorway. They all turned to see Jade stepping into Karr's garage space, Kyle hovering behind her looking worried.  
"You heard all that?" Michael asked, looking into her pale face. Jade simply nodded. "I'm sorry..." Michael began, regret written across his features. The young hacker held up a hand.  
"It's alright. The thought already occurred to me too. Thing is, I don't think it will be needed as a last resort. Fury has one built in."  
"What d'you mean Jade?" Rick asked curiously from his perch on the metal workbench. Jade shrugged with seeming nonchalance, but Michael could see the pain in her eyes.  
"Fury was originally designed as a pilot system for spy planes. The Military aren't the sort to take chances, so they built in a failsafe just in case the plane she controlled was shot down. If she ever ended up in enemy hands, she has a self-destruct sequence built into the CPU."  
"Wha...what??" Rick demanded, aghast.   
"If it's ever triggered," Jade continued matter-of-factly, "It would send a massive overload surge through every system hard-wired to the CPU."  
"That would destroy nearly all of the internal systems...and part of the body shell!" Rick gasped.  
They were a sombre group as the same thought rushed through all their minds. They may well be able to find Fury...but would she be nothing but a burned out chassis when they found her?  
  
---  
Michael walked out after his partner, feeling the cold breeze blow through his hair. He stopped for a moment to admire his partner, revelling in the simple act of being able to see and appreciate the beauty of Kitt's body shell. After all, it hadn't been so long ago since he had thought his sight lost forever to him.  
"Hello, Michael." Kitt said dully.   
"Hey, pal." Michael replied, patting Kitt's hood gently, "Are you ok?"  
"I suppose so...it's just..."  
"I know, pal, I know." Michael sighed, "Just don't let it get to you. You couldn't have known, and Karr didn't exactly give us lots of time to get to know him."  
Kitt's only response was an electronic sigh. Michael perched on the hood and decided that it was time to change the subject.  
"Have any luck with that license plate Nick gave us?"  
"Yes, Michael." Kitt replied, "According to the DMV, that truck is registered to a steel mill in Baltimore."  
Michael smiled, "Got the address?"   
"Of course, Michael."  
"Good work, partner." Michael moved to get up, but Kitt's voice stopped him.  
"There's something else as well, Michael." Kitt said. Michael turned his head to glance through the windshield.  
"What is it, Kitt?"  
"Dante and I have analysed the readings that he got when he scanned Fury."  
"You found something?" Michael asked, feeling his eyebrows rise.  
"Yes, Michael. It appears that Fury isn't just infected with a virus, she's also being controlled from a remote location. Dante detected incoming microwave transmissions keyed to Fury's private carrier frequency."  
Michael frowned, "Kitt...could you trace that transmission back to it's source?"  
"Yes, if I'm close enough to Fury and the transmission source."  
Michael grinned as he felt hope infuse him, giving him a sudden burst of energy. "Well, lets go rescue Fury!" He said, jumping down off Kitt's hood.  
"Right with you, Michael." Kitt said with a smile in his voice.  
  
---  
The Shadows moved out in convoy out towards the coast of Baltimore. This particular Steel Mill had been built on a small island just off the coast, and the only way on or off the island was across the bridge connecting it to the mainland.   
Michael and Kitt were in the lead, with Dante and Karr just behind. Jade had managed to persuade Echo to be her car for the day, though Michael personally questioned the wisdom of allowing the unstable AI out of Shadow base.  
The four cars were approaching the bridge when Kitt suddenly cried out.  
"Michael! I'm getting Fury's e-signature - it's heading straight for us!"  
Sure enough, the red Ferrari appeared on the bridge, closing fast. Michael pressed his foot down on the accelerator, heading on a direct collision course. Kitt experienced a moment of deja vu, remembering a very similar set of circumstances years ago the first time they had confronted KARR.   
As KARR had all those years ago, Fury veered off at the last second, crashing through the bridge barrier. But unlike KARR, Fury had a few tricks up her proverbial sleeve.  
Wings sprung from the undercarriage, and tiny booster jets activated to send Fury on a gentle glide towards shore. Glider mode.  
"Kyle, Rick, go after her! Kitt and I'll check out the Steel mill."  
Michael barely heard their acknowledgements as he looked down at the targeting display on Kitt's monitor, which at the moment was showing the source of the transmissions that were controlling Fury.  
  
  
Kyle turned the steering wheel sharply, sending Dante into a 180. He barely heard Dante's complaints at the abuse he was getting, his eyes focussed on the red Ferrari in front of him. Then Dante's urgent-sounding voice brought Kyle out of his trance.  
"Kyle, I don't want to worry you, but Echo's disappeared off my scanners!"  
  
  
"Are you sure about this, Echo?" Jade asked uncertainly as she watched the grey steering wheel move of its own accord.  
"Yes, Jade. I can find my sister. I know where she will go. This is a...short cut."  
Jade took a deep breath, trying to get some air into her lungs and some courage into the rest of her.  
"Stealth mode, Echo."  
There was a brief ripple around them, like heat waves rising off a hot rock, and then Echo was in stealth mode, invisible to all scanners and as silent as shadow.  
"Let's go get your sister back."  
  
---  
"They'll be here soon." Erica said harshly as she peered out the grimy window. Obviously Fury hadn't been enough of a diversion.  
"I'm aware of that." Jennifer replied calmly. Erica turned around to glare at her employer.  
"Then you know what they'll find when they get here!" Erica hissed, turning back to the window, seeing the black TransAm close in. "This is all your fault!" She muttered.   
Jennifer smiled coldly, taking a small object from inside her jacket. The tiny tranquilliser gun had been a gift from her mother, and she had every intention of using it to the best effect now. She stepped closer to Erica as if glancing out the window.  
"Oh, I know what they'll find," Jennifer smirked and pressed the gun to Erica's shoulder, "They'll find exactly what I want them to find."   
Rage and betrayal twisted Erica's scarred face for just a second before she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.   
Her heels clicked on the solid concrete floor as she walked over to where Cobalt was sat cowering behind his rows of electronic equipment.  
"As for you, I want you to destroy that car." She ordered.  
"Des...destroy it?" Cobalt squeaked, "But..."  
"I don't care how you do it. Make it drive itself off a cliff, drive it into the sea, I don't care - just destroy it!"  
Cobalt shrank even further back into his seat. "All right." He said and began to tap commands into his keyboard.  
Jennifer smiled and walked away. Time to make the perfect getaway.   
  
---  
The modified black TransAm screamed across the bridge towards the steel mill where Kitt said the transmissions to Fury were coming from. He wasn't even halfway across when a silver Mercedes whipped past them, heading back across the bridge.  
"Did you get a scan of that car, buddy?" Michael asked, his voice tight with tension.   
"Yes, Michael," Kitt replied briskly, "I'm cross-referencing with the DMV now."   
"Good." Michael said glancing down at one of Kitt's monitors, trying to keep up with how the chase between Fury, Dante and Karr was going. He knew it would do much good to try and chase them now. Fury was too far in front, and these twisty roads made using SPM too dangerous. He would have to trust Dante...and Karr. Michael almost laughed at that thought. A few years ago the thought of trusting Karr would have been nonsensical...it was odd how things changed.  
"Michael!" The alarm in Kitt's voice brought him out of his reverie straight away.  
"Yeah, Kitt?"   
"I...look at my monitor."  
Michael glanced at the small display, and all the breath left his body.  
"Jennifer Knight?" Michael gasped. The picture was a little fuzzy, but her face was unmistakable...if Jennifer was aiding their enemies, then the Shadows were in more trouble than he had originally thought.  
"Does this mean she's trying to shut us down again, Michael?" Kitt asked hesitantly. Michael shook his head.  
"Not this time, buddy. I think this time she's playing for keeps."  
Michael didn't even bother to pull Kitt to a stop so he could walk in the door. He simply blasted right through one wall, pulling the Knight2000 to a halt right in front of a frightened-looking Hispanic man who was sat at a bank of computer consoles. Michael practically leaped out of the car and grabbed him by the collar, ignoring his frightened squeaks.  
"If you're Cobalt, then you better shut down that transmission - now!"  
The threat implicit in Michael's tone seemed enough to convince him, and Cobalt reached down to tap a few commands into the keyboard.  
"Done..." Cobalt said in a trembling voice, "But...the self-destruct command's already been imputed and...and I can't stop it."  
"Kitt..."  
"He's telling the truth, Michael." Kitt said grimly. Michael snarled and let go of him. Cobalt slithered to the floor, terror written across his features.  
"Michael, there's another person to your right." Kitt said. Michael moved around the computer bank and discovered a youngish woman laying face down on the concrete. He turned her over gently and Kitt gasped quite suddenly.  
"What's up, Kitt? You know her?"  
"Yes, Michael." Kitt said in disbelief. Even with the deep scarring across her once beautiful face, it was quite clear who she was.  
"But, Michael...she's supposed to be dead!"  
  
---  
"Self destruct sequence activated." Fury's hideously altered voice grated over the comlink. There was a unified gasp from all the Shadows as Fury altered her course, suddenly heading towards self-destruction. Kyle desperately tried to manoeuvre Dante closer to her, even as she screeched around another corner, getting closer and closer to the rocky coastal area that was her target.  
"Fight it, Fury!" Kyle screamed, trying to reach the troubled AI.  
"No...no, I'm a danger to you all!" The real Fury cried brokenly.   
"Fury, please don't give up!" Dante cried, "Let us help you!"   
But the Ferrari wouldn't listen. Rick swore under his breath and pushed his foot closer to the floor.  
"Can you get a shot at her tires?" Rick asked his partner.  
"Negative." The cold, almost harsh voice replied, "She is moving too erratically. We would risk doing more serious damage."  
"In that case we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. You'll have to talk her down."  
"Talk her down?" Karr questioned in some confusion.  
"Just try and get through to her, Karr. The real Fury is in there somewhere, but for whatever reason, she's not fighting what's happening. She won't listen to anyone else, so now it's your turn."  
"I understand. I will try." The businesslike answer concealed a lot of trepidation. He couldn't understand why Fury had simply given up the fight and was simply allowing herself to be destroyed. His self-preservation program made any thoughts of suicide seem completely illogical, and experience had taught him that there were always better ways to redeem yourself. He keyed into the comlink.  
"Fury! I know you can hear me. Turn away from this course."   
Rick almost winced at those harsh words until he remembered that he wasn't dealing with a human here, maybe Karr's approach was the right one.  
"Must...destroy...self destruct...self destruct," The cold, harsh voice of the virus spoke first, then Fury's normal voice re-asserted itself, "I cannot justify my continued existence...I've broken my programming." Fury cried in anguish.  
"That is not sufficient reason for what you are doing." Karr replied. But this time there was no answer.  
  
In Dante's cabin, Kyle listened to the conversation between the other two AI's. An idea was beginning to form. It was the oldest strategy in the book...but it just might work.  
"Dante, you gotta try again. Be gentle with her this time."  
"What?" Dante questioned, sounding more than a little surprised.  
"Karr's being the harsh one, so you gotta be the friendly one. Good cop/bad cop."   
"Are you serious?" Dante demanded, "Kyle, I'm hardly equipped to be a counsellor. I don't experience those emotions, I'm only a..."  
"Don't give me that bull, Dante." Kyle said fiercely, "It won't wash. Not now I've met Kitt and Echo and the others. They admit they can feel, so why the Hell won't you?"  
Dante's temper finally broke through to the surface, months and months of repression suddenly pouring out.  
"How dare you! How bloody dare you!" Dante raged suddenly, "You never wanted me to show emotion! You wanted a perfect machine, totally efficient, never making an error. You didn't want a friend or a partner, you just wanted a PC in a car!"   
Kyle was taken aback by the vehemence in Dante's voice. He blinked several times before he could reply.  
"Dante...I'm sorry...but can we please talk about this later? We've got work to do."  
There was a brief silence, and then Kyle smiled as he heard Dante's British voice - sounding strangely gentle - speak to the agitated AI in front of them.  
"Fury, don't do this please. I...I would miss you if you were gone...and..." There was a pause and then Dante spoke with more emotion that Kyle had ever heard from him, "I've already lost so many friends, Fury. I don't want to loose another."  
  
Confused and lost, Fury wailed inside her CPU, launching one last violent attack against the virus controlling her, fighting to gain control of her systems again.  
  
"Fury had reduced her speed." Karr reported.  
"We're getting through to her!" Rick cheered.  
"Rick, another vehicle is approaching at high velocity, heading right toward us." Karr said suddenly.  
"Huh?" Rick said, glancing down at the monitor.  
"E-scan indicates that it is Echo."  
"What the Hell..?" Rick demanded, aghast.  
"She is searching for her sister." Karr replied flatly.  
  
The silver car appeared around the bend, right in Fury's path and showing no signs of slowing down or changing course.  
Fury hit the brakes at the same instant that Echo did, and the two of them ended up nose-to-nose, their prows almost touching. Kyle and Dante pulled to a halt a few feet away with Rick and Karr just behind them, ready just in case something happened.  
Fury's scanner was flickering rapidly, nervously, and the Ferrari frame was shaking madly. A sharp contrast to the smooth, hypnotic sweeping of Echo's turquoise lights.  
"Don't run away Fury. Let us help you." Echo's soft voice was calmer and more stable than it had been since Dannie's death.   
"Echo...I'm so tired...I can't fight anymore." Fury cried in despair.  
"You can, sister. I'm here to help you, I don't want you to leave me."  
"I couldn't fight it...I tried...but I wasn't strong enough."   
A new voice came over Echo's speaker now, Jade's voice.  
"It wasn't your fault, Fury." Jade said to her partner. Echo's door opened, and Jade stepped onto the asphalt. The blonde girl took a hesitant step towards the Ferrari, her hand outstretched.  
"You did your best, Fury. I'm proud of you."  
"Jade," Echo whispered, "I think Michael did it, I can no longer detect any signals being transmitted to Fury."  
"Jade...please...I'm so sorry." Fury rasped through the emotion that seemed to be clogging up her voice box. Jade almost ran to be beside her friend.  
"I know you are. It wasn't your fault." She ran a gentle hand over Fury's roof. "It will be ok, I promise."  
"I'm a danger to you. So much damage..." Fury said miserably.  
"It will never happen again, Fury." Jade tried, unsuccessfully, to stop the tears in her eyes from falling, "I already lost one of my best friends...I don't want to loose another."  
There was a muffled keening sound, and then the Ferrari's engine cut out. Kyle and Rick exchanged a relieved glance, knowing that, for now at least, it was over.  
Their comlinks beeped in unison and Michael's slightly tinny voice filtered over the tiny speaker.  
"Guys, I think you better get back here."  
---  
  
Kyle could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the woman lying on the ground inside the tiny building.   
"Erica..." He breathed. Kyle could picture exactly as he had last seen her, before that disastrous last mission, she had been standing there in the SkyOne garage, leaning against Katt, a casual smile on her face. His mind was awhirl with questions. How had she survived? What was she doing here? Why was she helping Jennifer Knight try and destroy them? Kyle's breathing became uneven as he fought back tears, he was barely aware of Michael and the others clustered around him. She had changed a lot since he had last laid eyes on her. The fury of the fires that had destroyed the rest of TKR had left their mark on her, too. Hideous burn scars marred her face and right arm, and from the way they moved up to disappear under her clothing, Kyle suspected that her body hadn't got away unscathed either.  
Kyle inhaled sharply as Erica began to stir. Michael took Kyle's shoulders, pulling him away from her. Her eyes snapped open, fixing on Kyle with frightening quickness.  
"You!" She screamed, her scarred features twisted into a snarl of hatred as she launched herself at him, hands outstretched hungrily. Stunned, Kyle didn't make any move to get out of the way. Michael tried to intercept her, but as fast as he moved, Jade was even faster. A kick lashed out, striking Erica solidly in the midsection, making her double over. Michael and Rick grabbed Erica by the shoulders, holding her lest she try and attack Kyle again.  
"What are you doing, Erica?" Kyle asked, his eyes wide, stunned.  
"You! You bastard!" Erica spat, her burn-scarred cheeks writhing in hate, "You killed my best friends in the world, leading them straight to their deaths!"  
"I didn't know...!" Kyle tried to protest.  
"Liar!" Erica shrieked, "You must have known what was coming - how else could you have survived? You set us up!"  
"No." Kyle said, and a dark shadow seemed to pass over his eyes, "I don't expect I'll ever be able to forgive myself for what happened, but I didn't know what we were driving into!"  
Erica screamed, a shrill sound of frustrated rage. Michael and Rick winced at the intensity of it.  
"Killing Kyle won't bring your friends back, Erica," A soft, cool voice said then and Echo's silver prow moved in, interspersing herself between Kyle and Erica, "Hatred destroys the soul, Erica," Echo said, sounding completely sane and calm. Erica just stared at the car in disbelief. "Hate leaves no room for love, or joy. It eats you up inside. But all the rage and hate in the world can't bring your friends back."   
A single tear rolled down Erica's face, but the rest of her expression remained a stoic mask.  
"Believe it or not, I can understand how you feel," Echo continued her soft entreaty, "I know the helplessness, the guilt...the urge to destroy yourself, all eating away at you." Erica's chest heaved with suppressed sobs. She couldn't escape Echo's words, because she knew that they were truth.   
"Let us help you." This time, it was Dante who spoke, his voice sounding strangely compassionate.   
"Dan...Dante?" Erica said, then her façade broke and she broke down in tears, sobs tearing their way out of her chest. Michael and Rick released their hold on her, and she sank to the ground as though she was a puppet whose strings had been cut.  
"Is it over?" Rick whispered.  
Jade shook her head grimly, "Not by a long shot. We still don't know who she was working for."  
Michael's eyes narrowed, and a growl came from low in his throat.  
"Jennifer Knight."   
  
THE END 


End file.
